Mortal Engines - Movie Review

The Story: In a post-apocalyptic world where cities ride on wheels and consume each other to survive, two people meet in London and try to stop a conspiracy.

The Review:
When a movie is billed as being made by the creators of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, there is going to be a level of expectation that comes with that. While I can see the lofty heights the creative team attempted to reach with this epic scaled story, I just didn't feel any sort of attachment or emotional investment as the events unfolded. Watching the movie felt like watching someone play a video game as there was so much CGI and not nearly enough of real spaces and tactile environments that the brain easily recognizes and distinguishes from the artificial.

Before this review becomes a total beat down, I will say that the movie, for what it's worth is entertaining and filled with lots of action. The third act features a final battle between opposing forces that does reach the level of epic visual story telling the creators were shooting for and the ending is satisfying in a lot of different ways.What keeps the story from having any major impact is that the character development is shallow and most of the story beats seem borrowed from other franchises like Star Wars and the aforementioned Lord of the Rings.

Mortal Engines is ultimately one of those movies that you can just kick back with a bucket of popcorn and enjoy for what it is. The story is decent, the characters are basic, and the visuals are video game quality but at times breathtaking to see on the big screen. If you're going to watch the movie, definitely watch it in a theater, don't wait for home video.